Be Careful What You Wish For
by Hallow Sisters On My Mind
Summary: Esmerelda and Ethel are fighting and Ethel wishes her sister did not exist and her wish is granted... .WW 2017.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: A story I have had planned for a while. I hope you all enjoy and reviews would be appreciated. I do NOT own The Worst Witch or the characters.

* * *

 **Be Careful What You Wish For**

* * *

 **Chapter One**

Ethel Hallow stormed nosily up the stairs as her sister Esmerelda followed behind her trying to calm her down.

"Oh just go away Esmerelda" Ethel yelled down the stairs to her sister as she kept storming up them.

"Ethel will you listen" Esmerelda replied following her and making a lot less noise than her sister was.

Ethel arrived on the landing and walked towards her bedroom door without replying to her sister, the young blonde walked into her bedroom folding her arms to stop herself striking out.

"Ethie, will you calm down! This is not even my fault!" Esmerelda shouted at her younger sister as she followed her into her bedroom.

"Of course it is" Ethel shouted as she turned around to face her sister "Why do you have to be so bloody perfect at everything?" Ethel asked her eyes blazing with anger.

"Mum and dad signed me up for that stupid competition, I didn't even want to go to the flaming thing!" Esmerelda shouted back infuriated with Ethel right now for blaming her when it was not her fault.

"Even so you had to do everything perfectly didn't you? "Flying is my thing, it is the only thing I have never messed up with and you had to take that from me as well" Ethel yelled at Esmie.

Esmerelda had being entered into a flying competition by her parents and had won a award for being the best flyer there and this was the exact reason Ethel was so angry.

"Oh what did you want me to do? Crash into a wall? I just flew like I normally flew it is not my fault the rest of the contestants were crap at it!" Esmerelda shouted back angrily at Ethel. The journey back home had being half an hour of sitting in silence and the second they had got home Ethel had started.

"YES YES YES, I WANTED YOU TO CRASH, I WANTED YOU TO SHOW YOU WERE NOT VERY GOOD AT SOMETHING, THE PROBLEM WITH YOU ESMERELDA IS YOU ARE BORING...YOU TAKE EVERYTHING TO SERIOUSLY, I MEAN WHY DON'T YOU TRY ACTING UP FOR ONCE INSTEAD OF BEING ANGEL CHILD" Ethel boomed in response really yelling at her sister loudly now.

"BECAUSE I HAVE SEEN WHAT ACTING UP DOES, THE AMOUNT OF TIMES I HAVE HAD TO HELP YOU OUT OF A SITUATION WHEN YOU HAVE NEARLY GOT EXPELLED, I WOULD RATHER BE BORING THAN NEARLY EXPELLED EVERYDAY" Esmerelda yelled back in the back of her mind feeling sad, she and Ethel had never had a fight this bad before. This was new for both of them but as the years went by Ethel was becoming more and more depressed and more and more sensitive.

"OH YES IT MUST BE SO HARD BEING THE ELDEST MUSN'T IT? IT MUST BE SO HARD GETTING EVERYTHING FOR BEING BORN FIRST!" Ethel shouted fed up of her sister getting all the attention and everything good just because she happened to be born a few years before Ethel was. Not only was the girl fussed over constantly by everyone but she had being given all the family heirlooms for being born first thanks to the witches code.

"FOR THE LAST TIME IT IS NOT MY FAULT! I DID NOT MAKE THE WITCHES CODE SO DON'T BLAME ME FOR IT!" Esmerelda yelled back really angry and hurt right now. Ethel was being unreasonable.

"YOU ONLY CARE ABOUT YOURSELF!" Ethel yelled back meanly.

"I HAVE ONLY EVER TRIED TO SHOW I LOVE YOU BUT YOU ARE SPOILED AND WON'T ACCEPT IT" Esmerelda shouted back at Ethel both girls getting their feelings out and insulting each other.

"OH YOU ARE NICE TO EVERYONE, OF COURSE YOU WILL SHOW ME LOVE OR PEOPLE MIGHT THINK YOU ARE NOT PERFECT" Ethel shouted back really angrily. In Ethel's head her treatment of Ethel was all a act to fool people into thinking she was perfect.

"YOU KNOW WHAT BEING THE ELDEST IS NOT FUN AT ALL BECAUSE I GET YELLED AT ALL THE TIME, YOU ARE SO FLAMING SELFISH AND NEVER SHOW THAT YOU ARE GRATEFUL FOR WHAT I HAVE DONE FOR YOU!" Esmerelda yelled back not caring anymore how it came out, if Ethel wanted to fight they could. Ethel never appreciated anything after all.

Ethel took a deep breath then struggling to maintain her composure and struggling not to attack her sister, Esmerelda stood glaring at her annoyed.

"Do you know what I wish?" Ethel said still loudly but her voice had lowered in volume quite a bit. Esmerelda did not even bother to comment at her sisters question in that moment not caring what Ethel wished.

"I WISH YOU HAD NEVER BEEN BORN, YOU RUIN EVERYTHING I HATE YOU" Ethel yelled at her sister not thinking about what she was saying and not caring if it hurt her sister, Esmerelda hurt her all the time it was time for her to get a taste of her own medicine.

"RIGHT BACK AT YOU" Esmerelda replied glaring at her sister before opening the younger blonde's bedroom door and walking out of the room slamming the door loudly behind her.

Ethel threw a book at her door as her sister slammed it her anger was so high right now even her cat, Nightstar, went and hid in the corner away from her before Ethel started trashing her whole bedroom, throwing books around, pushing things of her desk and making sure not to leave any of her room untouched.

After she had finished trashing her bedroom she jumped onto her bed and started to cry so upset and frustrated.

She really did hate her sister at times, she couldn't help it. If she had being the oldest she would have got attention but because the girl was so perfect even at the time Ethel was born the middle child was neglected. That was the way Ethel saw it.

Ethel lay down on her bed now crying more at the fact something else had been taken away from her again and eventually after a good hour of the girl just solid crying she fell asleep.

* * *

Ethel was never one who was entirely good at sleeping in the first place but tonight after only a hour the girl was awake, she yawned and stood up swearing to herself as she stood on something on her floor from when she had trashed it, after the pain in her foot had subsided she then walked to the bathroom and emerged a few minutes later.

As she was on her way back to her bedroom she had to past Esmerelda's bedroom, now that she was calm she paused outside wondering if she should go in and apologise and knew she really should. She did not want to go to sleep on a fight and she had gone way to far this time.

Ethel walked in quietly but saw her sister was in bed sound asleep, somehow waking her after their fight seemed to Ethel like it would make things worse so she sighed and walked out the room and back into her bedroom.

Ethel went back to bed but stayed awake for a good few hours finding that she felt unable to sleep anymore, she was worried about her argument with Esmerelda, now that she had time to think about it she regretted the whole thing and was worried the girl would not forgive her. Despite what she had said it was not true she did love Esmerelda and had not meant to get so angry at her. These thoughts kept Ethel awake.

Ethel finally fell asleep again in the early hours of the morning and the girl had no idea at the time that the wish she had made earlier was about to be granted...


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Ethel was asleep in bed really tired after her long night of being awake when she suddenly heard a voice calling her.

"Ethie...Ethie wake up" the voice said shaking her awake.

Ethel moaned not wanting to get up yet but as it was clearly Esmerelda waking her as she had called her Ethie she knew it was time to apologise for what she had said the previous day, She was lying on her side and rolled over so she was on her back before opening her eyes.

"Morning Ethie" Sybil Hallow, the youngest sister, said to her happily. Realising who it was Ethel sat up quickly to look at her curiously.

"Why are you calling me Ethie?" Ethel asked confused. Sybil had never called her that before only Esmerelda did and she thought it was a bit random for the girl to call her that after all these years.

"I always call you Ethie" Sybil replied looking just as confused as her sister did.

"No you don't, you know how sensitive Esmie is about that name, don't let her hear you call me it" Ethel warned her sister knowing she was just joking around but knowing Esmerelda was really sensitive about the name.

"Who is Esmie?" Sybil asked narrowing her eyes more in confusion. Ethel shook her head thinking the joke had gone to far now.

"Esmerelda, you know, blonde, brown eyes, two years older than me, our sister" Ethel replied in amazement waiting for Sybil to burst into a fit of giggles and for Esmerelda to appear from around the corner both laughing at having successfully of pranked Ethel, only none of these things happened, Sybil kept her eyes narrowed.

"You must have had a really deep dream, there is only two of us obviously, you are the oldest and I am the youngest" Sybil explained skipping around her sisters room not realising how her words were going to impact Ethel.

"Don't be silly Sybil, look I will prove it to you" Ethel replied as she got up and ran across the landing Sybil following right behind her, she walked towards Esmerelda's room and opened the door before walking in.

"See Sybil this is Esmie's..." Ethel stopped talking as she saw the bedroom.

Last night this room had being her sister's bedroom but right now it looked to be some sort of storeroom for the family as it was filled with a bunch of old and broken stuff, there was no sign of anyone ever having of slept there, firstly there was no bed anywhere in the room and secondly the room was so dusty that Ethel was coughing, clearly no-one ever went in that room.

Ethel just stood there looking around in utter shock but even though there evidence was right in front of her she refused to believe it, she stormed out the room slamming the door and ran down the stairs, it might be true she was not close to her parents but right now she had to ask them what had happened to Esmerelda.

* * *

"MUM,DAD!?" Ethel screamed as she ran down the stairs with Sybil following behind her, her parents turned around and smiled at her confusing Ethel even more. What happened to them pretending she didn't exist?

"Oh Ethie, good morning" her mother told her affectionately.

"Good morning princess" her father told her with a smile happy she was there. Ethel became even more confused at the name 'princess'.

"Morning..." Ethel replied in a voice full of confusion "Where is Esmerelda?" Ethel asked needing to know what in the world was going on.

"Who is that darling?" her mother asked looking confused.

"Oh it must be one of your little friends, you have so many" her father said stroking her hair with a smile.

"No she is not one of my friends, she is your daughter, how can you not remember?" Ethel asked starting to become really upset.

Mr and Mrs Hallow glanced at each other and then smiled turning back to Ethel.

"I think you had a dream sweetheart" Mr Hallow told her with a chuckle.

"NO!" Ethel shouted as she ran into the main room and looked at the family photographs but they had all changed, there was ones of two blonde girls, not three, and then one of the two girls together and in the family portrait there was only Ethel and Sybil.

That was the moment it hit her, somehow, in some weird crazy way, her wish had being granted and Esmerelda had never being born, in this universe she was the oldest and she felt her heart hurt at the lost of her sister but she did not have to much time to be upset about it.

"Ethie darling" her mother said. Ethel turned around not sure how she felt about her whole family calling her the nickname her sister had given to her.

"Yes mum?" Ethel said politely putting one of the family pictures back on the mantelpiece.

"Ethie!" her mother said walking in and seeing her still in her pyjamas.

"What?" Ethel said looking down at her clothes wondering why her mother was looking at her funny.

"You are going to be late if you don't get a move on" her mother told her shaking her head.

"Late for what?" Ethel asked having no idea what she was talking about.

"The competition of course!" Mrs Hallow replied "Are you feeling alright you are acting very strange this morning" her mother commented looking at her eldest child concerned.

"Oh the competition...yes I am fine mum sorry I am just a bit tired is all" Ethel replied..."Erm I will go get ready" Ethel commented before she ran upstairs to go and get dressed.

Ethel walked up to her bedroom and took a quick look around realising she had all the old family heirlooms in there, well of course she did, in this universe she was the eldest and the eldest child inherits them, after a few minutes she quickly dressed feeling very nervous all of a sudden.

* * *

Ethel had always being jealous of Esmerelda for being entered into all these cool competitions and she had always wanted to try it herself, the problem was these competitions had to have permission given by an adult or the contestant had to be entered by a adult so she had never got the chance and she was excited about finally experiencing one for herself.

Arriving at the venue where the competition was being held, Mr and Mrs Hallow left her to go and find seats with Sybil and that was the moment Ethel realised she had no idea what type of competition this even was. She had no time to worry about this as a man stepped on the stage and started talking.

"Good morning everyone welcome to the annual potions competition" a man in a suit with dark hair said into a microphone.

Potions. Ethel thought to herself as she smiled. She could do potions. She knew she would be alright.

"Please welcome our contestants" he said as he started to call the names of the boys and girls in the competition.

"Ethel Hallow" he said and the blonde walked nervously onto the stage and went and stood behind the cauldron she would be working with.

"Now contestants today you can make a potion of your choice, try and make the most impressive potion you know" the presenter said "You have one hour, of you go" he said turning a hourglass over.

Ethel started to make her potion thinking in her head what she should make as after all she had had no time to prepare for this, a impressive potion she thought to herself, she smiled as it came to her, she would make the potion she made at her selection day exam, only this time she will get it right.

She threw things into the potion, triple checking her ingredients something she had gotten into the habit of doing trying not to cast her eyes towards the hourglass on the table. Ethel took a quick glance around her and saw the other contestants were not doing so well, a lot of them looked confused and one girls potion exploded, Ethel did not want to get to excited but she really thought she had a chance of winning.

* * *

"TIME IS UP" The presenter shouted and everyone stopped what they were doing. It was now time to demonstrate.

The first person made a potion that made them float, the seconds potion exploded so it was unknown what hers was meant to do, the third had made a voice changing potion and then it was Ethel.

She drank the potion feeling her eyes glow and the fire in her belly and she roared before transforming and this time she transformed the way she was supposed to during her entrance exam.

A few seconds ago there had been a young blonde girl stood there and now there was a huge dragon with red scales which roared loudly and the presenter laughed.

"We better watch out before this one breathes fire, excellent" he said as Ethel returned to normal beaming she had succeeded.

Of course Ethel won the competition and walked onto the stage beaming and holding the trophy she had won, she did miss Esmerelda but in that moment she was enjoying being the eldest so much she did not want it to end, being the eldest was far better than she ever imagined especially as she saw her parents clapping and cheering as she received her trophy.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Ethel got home with her family proudly holding the golden trophy in her arms as she walked through the door as her parents spoke to her proudly, Ethel had never been happier than in that moment.

"You were brilliant Ethie, perfect performance on your part" Mrs Hallow told her beaming at the girl.

"A dragon? What a fantastic idea" her father replied. Ethel beamed at her parents lavishing up the attention they were giving her as their main butler Sebastian appeared.

"Dinner is served" he told the family who rushed to sit down at the table, Ethel took the seat Esmerelda normally took, next to their parents and Ethel was excited about talking to them as they ate.

* * *

"We should enter you in the upcoming Spells competition that is coming up" Mr Hallow told his daughter affectionately.

"Alright slow down, one competition at a time" Ethel replied as she chuckled. Ethel glanced at Sybil and saw her sat there bored as Ethel spoke to their parents, normally when Esmie spoke to her parents (rather reluctantly now Ethel thought about it) Ethel and Sybil would chat but with Esmie gone Sybil had no-one to talk to.

"Don't be so modest darling, you could enter ten competitions at a time and still win all of them" Mrs Hallow told Ethel with a smile.

"Well I don't know about that" Ethel replied not so sure.

"You are to modest for your own good" Mr Hallow replied shaking his head as he ate.

* * *

Ethel spent the next half a hour talking to her parents happily until dinner was over and Mr and Mrs Hallow spoke once all the plates had been taken away.

"Sybil darling you may go" Mrs Hallow told her. Sybil jumped up and ran off looking forward to her free time.

"And Ethie it is time for your study hour" Mr Hallow told her becoming serious.

Ethel was quite stuffed after dinner and the last thing she felt like doing was studying so she sighed and opened her mouth before she started to talk.

"Oh I was.." Ethel started to say but was interrupted before she could finish because she found herself transported to her fathers study. Herself and her sisters were not allowed in there so she had never seen the room much and looked around it curiously before her mother spoke.

"Right well let's get started shall we?" Mrs Hallow said as herself and her husband sat down.

Ethel had always wondered what her sister and her parents did every evening after dinner and it looks like she was about to find out. She was so excised she was finding it hard not to cheer.

"So of course you are going to be inheriting everything from us, as the eldest we need to prepare you for that so it is very important you learn the value of money" Mr Hallow told his daughter in a professional voice.

Ethel was about to comment that they were rich so she didn't understand why she had to learn the value when her parents kept speaking.

"Having money is not just as simple as how we spend it, it is important we keep track of all our accounts so we can see exactly where our money is going and you will need to learn to do this before you take over from us" Mrs Hallow carried on from her husband.

Ethel was given some pieces of paper to read which made no sense to her and listened as her parents went on.

It did not take long for the young blonde to become bored out of her mind as her parents went on and on, listening to her parents talking about account figures and how they work was so boring Ethel had to refrain from sitting back on the chair she was sat on in the study because she knew if she did she would fall asleep, she was already finding it hard to stay awake as it was.

It was at this moment Ethel really felt for Esmerelda, she had to endure this torture every single night and it might be true the other girl was better at concentrating than her but she knew Esmie well enough to know she would be bored out of her mind having to listen to this for a hour.

Ethel kept her eyes on her parents trying to show she was focused, glancing at the clock every few seconds. Had time stopped? Had time slowed down? There was no way she had only being sat here for twenty minutes, the girl felt like crying as she realised she still had forty minutes more to endure.

"Ethel!" the blonde heard and shook her head turning to look at her parents.

"Huh?" the girl asked as she came back to reality.

"You seem distracted are you listening?" Mr Hallow asked his daughter and Ethel forced herself to smile.

"Yes of course I am sorry, you were saying?" Ethel asked pretending to care.

Never in her life had the girl ever being as bored as she was in that moment, she was so bored she would have taken a tornado at that moment just to try make things more interesting.

Time moved so painfully slow Ethel actually started to wonder if time still existed which was way the clock never seemed to move when after what felt like a entirety the hour was up.

"That is it for today, you may go remember what we said" Mrs Hallow said as Ethel nodded backing for the door and walking out before rushing up to her room as fast as she could and lay down on her bed feeling like she needed a huge long sleep after that.

Ethel was of course a child, she could not care less about her parents accounts or how much they had spent on clothes in the last year, the girl rubbed her eyes so happy she was free at last and grabbed her book trying to read and get the awful session of her mind.

* * *

The next night after dinner Ethel tried to escape before her parents could put her through the torture again but she was transported away before she had a chance causing her to endure another hour of suffering.

Night after night she sat there bored out of her mind as her parents spoke to her wishing she could be anywhere but where she was in that moment, she was so bored she found herself counting things. There was twenty four tiles on the floor, twenty two on the ceiling, there was five paintings on the walls, two windows and three hundred swirls on the wallpaper, Ethel knew knowing this was really quite sad but it passed the time and gave her something to do. The only problem was Ethel soon ran out of things she could count.

Ethel had always thought being the eldest would be fun and brilliant and amazing and there would be nothing that was bad about it but she had realised she was very wrong indeed, being the eldest so far might of being fun but these meetings with her parents were purely torture.

* * *

The thing is all Ethel wanted to do after these meetings was sleep as the meetings made her so bored she grew tired.

Currently Ethel was flicking through a potions book studying and found herself drifting off struggling to stay awake.

Ethel had found Esmerelda asleep before when it was still light outside but she always thought Esmie just studied to much but now she realised it was all because of the stupid meetings.

Ethel's head fell on her desk, her papers flying everywhere as she fell into a deep sleep and was soon sound asleep at six in the evening on a hot bright summers day.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Ethel tried not to let the awful boring meetings with her parents get to her, after all it was the only thing about being the eldest child which was bad, everything else she had experienced was amazing and fun, of course there had to be one thing she did not like about it and the girl was still enjoying her new role, well at least she was until the next evening.

Ethel and Sybil had both being doing their homework when Mr and Mrs Hallow walked in both putting on their travelling cloaks.

"Ethie darling" Mrs Hallow said to her daughter as she buttoned her cloak around her neck.

"Yes mother?" Ethel asked walking over to talk to her parents.

"We have to go to work for a couple of hours, we need you to look after Sybil" Mrs Hallow told her daughter.

"Okay but the servants will be the ones really in charge right?" Ethel asked knowing when her parents were out the servants were in charge.

"Yes but they will only be entering now and then so just watch Sybil" Mr Hallow told his daughter with a smile.

Ethel looked over at Sybil and could not help feeling slightly worried. Of course when Esmerelda was the eldest Ethel was still older than Sybil but despite this Ethel had never looked after Sybil alone, as Esmerelda was the eldest the motherly role went to her and she was in charge of both of them, but Ethel told herself not to panic, Sybil could not be that much hard work...right?

"Oh and you will need to make dinner for the both of you, Michele is not here today as his son has fallen ill, there is pizza's in the freezer" Mrs Hallow told her child casually.

If Ethel had been worried about looking after Sybil it was nothing to how she felt at being told she had to cook, Ethel had always had her meals cooked for her both at home and at school, as the family was rich they had a cook who cooked for them but there had been times Esmerelda had had to cook herself because the cook was ill or on holiday, but Ethel had never even touched a oven before so gulped.

"Can we not just order a takeaway?" Ethel asked her parents hoping they will agree so she did not have to cook.

"Ethie, that takeaway rubbish is really bad for you, plus it is a waste of money when we have perfectly good food already here" Mr Hallow replied and Ethel sighed.

"You will be fine" Mrs Hallow said kissing her daughter on the cheek as she left with her husband and Ethel started to follow them to stall them from leaving but they transferred before she got a chance too.

With her parents gone Ethel realised for the first time she was entirely in charge, if anything went wrong it was down to her but she hoped everything would go smoothly.

* * *

For a while everything went smoothly and Ethel started to relax but after half a hour Sybil started to talk.

"I am so bored can we do something?" Sybil asked her sister fed up of sitting on the sofa and watching TV.

"Okay what is it you want to do?" Ethel asked her sister

Sybil stood up and walked over to the cupboard where the sisters kept board games and varies other toys.

"Can we play a board game?" Sybil asked her sister sweetly.

"Yes okay" Ethel said before looking at the clock on the wall "But first let me put the pizza in, why don't you pick one and go and set it up?" Ethel suggested to her sister who nodded happily as Ethel went to the kitchen happy at how easy she had dealt with that problem.

Ethel took the pizza out the freezer and put it on a tray before putting it in the oven, after a few minutes of fiddling she got the oven to the temperature it told her to cook it at on the box just as there was a extremely loud crashing sound from the next room.

Ethel jumped and ran into the room to see what had happened, the floor was covered in boxes of boardgames and varies other toys, some of the boxes had flown open and the pieces were covered everywhere and Sybil was stood near the mess looking guilty.

"Sybil...what happened?" Ethel asked her sister looking at the mess wondering how she could make such a mess picking a game.

"I was reaching for a game and it was at the top and they all fell" Sybil replied softly. Ethel sighed but cast some spells sending the games back into the cupboard, disaster avoided she told herself.

"Try to be more careful" Ethel told her little sister "Come on then let's play, what are we playing?" Ethel asked as she went and sat down at the table with her sister.

"Pictionary" Sybil said happily

"Fantastic, I can't draw to save my life" Ethel replied not liking the game her sister had chosen.

* * *

The two girls spent a while playing the board game together when a loud alarm started to go off.

"What on earth?" Ethel said looking around for the trouble.

"It is the fire alarm" Sybil said covering her ears as the noise rang through her ears.

Ethel panicked then wondering what on earth was on fire when she suddenly remembered.

"THE PIZZA!" she shouted running in the kitchen and seeing smoke coming out the oven, she opened the oven and grabbed some oven gloves pulling the burned pizza out of the oven before she pointed her fingers at the fire alarm turning it off.

"I am not eating that" Sybil said as she looked at the blackened pizza with a disgusted look upon her face.

"Well obviously" Ethel said with a sigh wondering what she should do now, she opened the freezer and found a second pizza and put it in the oven thankful there was another.

This time Ethel remembered the pizza and served it up to Sybil but when she gave it to her the girl started to whinge.

"Err it has mushroom, I hate mushroom" Sybil complained as she saw it on the pizza.

"Pick it off" Ethel told her sister.

"But I know it was there" Sybil replied folding her arms and pushing her plate away.

Both Sybil and Ethel were picky eaters but this was not normally a problem as Esmerelda had memorised what they will eat and what they will not touch, at school the girls hated the food but ate knowing if they didn't they would starve.

"Sybil stop being so picky and eat it" Ethel told her sister annoyed at her.

"I don't like it" Sybil complained in a whiny voice.

Ethel grabbed the pizza and took the mushrooms off before putting it back on the plate

"There now will you eat it!" Sybil told her sister very annoyed.

"No!" Sybil replied not wanting the food at all.

"Sybil will you listen!" Ethel shouted at her little sister.

"No, you can't tell me what to do you are not my mum!" Sybil replied rudely to Ethel before she started to walk away.

"Excuse me...Sybil Hallow get back here right now!" Ethel shouted after her.

Sybil was not listening she walked towards the door and walked out as Ethel followed her.

"Get back down here and eat your dinner, don't make me tell mum and dad you have been misbehaving" Ethel said to her little sister beyond annoyed.

"I don't like you, leave me alone" Sybil told her sister as she rushed up the stairs and into her bedroom.

Ethel went back to the front room knowing she had not dealt with the situation right and wondering what the trick Esmerelda had was, the older girl never seemed to have that problem with Sybil and if something happened she normally could save the situation but Ethel had no idea what to do.

Ethel had never realised before how difficult it was to look after her little sister by herself and in that moment the novelty of being the oldest started to wear off slightly.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

After what happened with Sybil, Ethel was in a bad mood for the rest of the day but she did check on her sister a while later and found her sound asleep in her bed and Ethel then took herself of to bed too so both girls were already asleep before their parents came home.

Ethel slept through the whole night until she heard someone calling her, thinking it was Sybil she moaned and turned over until whoever it was pulled the covers of her and she opened her eyes blinking up at the person annoyed and saw it was her father.

"What time is it?" Ethel asked her father sleepily feeling like it was early.

"It is six" her father said simply.

"Six!?" Ethel replied shooting awake from her amazement "As in six in the morning!? Ethel asked her father.

"Obviously" her father told her.

Mr and Mrs Hallow did not like their girls to be lazy so there had been times they went around at around half nine to wake any of the girls who were still asleep, but six was early even for them.

"Why did you wake me up?" Ethel asked trying to stifle a yawn.

"You need to start your studying Ethel, you only have two weeks until your spells competition" her father replied as if it was obvious.

Ethel sat there gawping at her father, first of all she had no idea she was even entered into another competition and second of all how can she possibly study at six in the morning when her eyes were already about to drift close?

"Come on, up" her father said causing Ethel to stand up as her father pointed to her desk and she went and sat down and opened her spell book.

"Good girl" her father said with a smile "Your mother and I have to work, we will be back by nine, make sure you study the whole time we are gone" her father said as he walked out the room closing his daughters bedroom door.

* * *

Ethel sighed and started to read the first sentence of the chapter she had opened the book on 'this spell is particularly use...' that is how far Ethel got before she found herself drifting of and Ethel started to wonder if her parents woke Esmerelda up like this everytime she had a competition and if they did, how on earth did the young girl stay awake?

Ethel did consider just going back to bed but her parents were crafty, she knew in this situation her parents would have the servants watching her and if they found out she had disobeyed them they might make her study longer or make up for it the next day so that was not a option but Ethel had no idea how she could study when her eyes kept closing.

Ethel got a idea then, she stood up and walked over to her mirror holding up a card to it. The mirrors in the Hallows residence did let them communicate with people outside of the residence of course but as the Hallow house was so large it was also used to communicate between different rooms and right now Ethel mirrored the kitchen and the face of their butler appeared.

"Sebastian" Ethel said trying to refrain from rubbing her eyes. Sebastian looked at the young girl and Ethel noticed he really did not seem to surprised to see her awake at six in the morning, almost as if this happened regularly.

"Good morning, Miss, how may I help you?" he asked her politely.

"I cannot leave my room, father has ordered me to study so will you be able to bring me up some coffee?" Ethel asked rubbing her eyes still not awake.

Again, Ethel could not help noticing Sebastian did not seem surprised at her request, even though Ethel hated coffee and never asked for it, almost as if he was used to having the girl ask for it at this time.

"It is already on it's way miss" Sebastian told the young girl and she nodded gratefully.

"Thank you" Ethel said ending the call as someone knocked on her door.

"Come in" Ethel said as a servant walked in with her drink on a tray and handed her a flask of the steaming drink as well as a bowl of sugar and a saucer of milk.

"Thanks" Ethel said as the woman walked out and Ethel put two spoons of sugar in and a tiny bit of milk before sipping the drink and pulling a face at the taste but she knew caffeine would help her not fall asleep.

After forcing a cup of the coffee down Ethel felt more alert and was now ready to start her studying. She started to read her book finding this time she was able to concentrate on it, but she did have to take the odd sip of the vile drink now and again to stop herself drifting off again.

Ethel realised something then she had never really thought about before. Esmerelda was not entirely keen on hot drinks either but she had, at times, seen her sister drinking coffee with her parents at the breakfast table even though she knew for a fact her sister hated coffee and whenever Ethel had asked about it she had told her she was either cold and trying to warm herself up or she was trying to get used to the taste of it, Ethel had eventually left her to it not thinking to much into it but Ethel now thought she had solved the riddle as to why Esmerelda really drank something she could not stand the taste off, she was trying to keep herself awake, the family breakfast was served at nine on the dot, anyone who was not there before it was cleared away missed out, but if Esmerelda had already being up studying for three hours the girl must have be tired which is why she had to drink caffeine to stay awake, If Esmerelda had fallen asleep at the breakfast table Mr and Mrs Hallow would have been most displeased with her.

Ethel managed to keep herself awake the three hours and then someone knocked and she told them to come in, it was Sybil and the girl did not even seem to care about what happened last night anymore as she seemed as happy as ever.

* * *

"Morning Ethie" Sybil said happily as she stretched, still in her pyjamas, clearly having just got up and Ethel was so jealous Sybil had just being in her cosy bed all this time as she was studying of all things.

"Morning" Ethel told her sister as she turned in her chair to look at her.

"What are you doing?" Sybil asked going to look over Ethel's shoulder.

"Studying Sybil" Ethel replied telling her sister exactly what she was doing.

"Before breakfast?" Sybil asked not understanding why her sister would do that.

"Yes well I was up early and did not want to disturb anyone so I thought why not?" Ethel lied not wanting to tell Sybil how she had being woken by her father to study. Sybil shrugged seeming to buy it.

"Okay, we better get dressed before breakfast is ready" Sybil said as she ran out the room to get dressed and Ethel got dressed too.

* * *

When she went down for breakfast she took the flask from that morning with her feeling like she was about to fall asleep again, her parents smiled at her as she sat down but did not find it odd she was drinking coffee.

"Eww why are you drinking that?" Sybil asked as she sat down next to her sister, Ethel looked at her with a sigh trying to think of a excuse.

"I like coffee now" Ethel lied as she forced herself to drink the liquid.

After breakfast, Ethel went upstairs hoping she could get a bit more sleep but just as she got to the landing her mother called her down telling her she would have to watch Sybil again tonight, Ethel was so tired she felt like flat out refusing but her parents were gone before she had time to even open her mouth.

Things that night with Sybil went better as their chef was back so she did not have to cook, which was probably just as well because in her state she probably would have set the place on fire, Ethel watched her sister happily eat her pasta and was thankful when the girl left to get ready for bed and Ethel herself rushed up behind her.

The girl was about to get changed into her pyjamas but was so tired as she opened her drawer to get out her pyjama she fell asleep against her chest of drawers with a small hatred for her role of the eldest starting to develop deep into her mind.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

Ethel was sat at the breakfast table with her sister as her parents were at work. The older blonde had papers all over the table and was more jittery than normal. Sybil ate a spoonful of her cereal before looking at her sister.

"Why are you all jumpy?" Sybil asked her sister innocently as she took a break from eating to talk to her.

"I am panicking, why did mum and dad have to get me to do this speech tonight?" Ethel asked as she moved papers around with her speech on it "I hate public speaking" Ethel told Sybil dreading the events taking place tonight.

"Me too, I am glad you are the oldest, I would hate to have to speak in front of people" Sybil replied with a smile.

"Thanks Sybil, I feel heaps better now" Ethel replied saracatically.

After they finished their breakfast, Ethel walked upstairs to her bedroom to once again practise her speech, wishing she could fall really ill tonight to get out of it, Esmie was brilliant at this sort of thing but Ethel's nerves were getting to her as she stood in front of her mirror talking to her pretend audience.

* * *

No such luck. Ethel did not fall ill and before she knew it she was in flying with her mother and father and Sybil trying to stop her nerves making her crash her broomstick, as she landed she looked at the building in front of her and this time did feel sick.

"Come on" Mr Hallow told his family as the four of them entered the building. Ethel was taken to the back of a stage with a few other girls around her age and felt her stomach playing up as she heard voices on the other side of the curtain where there audience was.

"Remember speak slowly, but not to slowly either, keep a good pace" Mr Hallow told his daughter reminding her for the fifteenth time that day.

"Yes I know father" Ethel replied still nervous.

"And make sure you speak clearly, no mumbling or whispering" Mrs Hallow then said also given her daughter the same advise she had been given her all day.

"Yes I know, thank you mother" Ethel replied with a bit more attitude that she intended to. Her parents were seriously making everything worse.

"We are about to start" the presenter told the family and the parents nodded and looked at Ethel.

"Good luck" Mrs Hallow told her daughter as Mr Hallow just waved leading Sybil away leaving Ethel alone.

* * *

Ethel was the second up and as she stood there nervously pacing she came to a horrifying realisation...she had forgotten her whole speech...she couldn't remember it at all! What was she going to do? The first speech was nearly over, she didn't have time to go and practise anymore but the words were completely gone, just then she heard clapping from behind the curtains telling Ethel that the first speech was finished, she was next and all she wanted to do was bolt.

Suddenly she heard her name being said and walked in a zombie like state onto the stage. As she saw the amount of people, at least fifty, suddenly she felt so much more nervous as she walked to the podium standing by the microphone, she looked at at the sea of people trying to stop her hands shaking.

"I...t...t...today" Ethel stumbled out nervously as she looked at the people around her wondering what on earth she was going to do, it was in that moment she remembered something.

Ethel had always had a problem with nerves, despite the girl acting so confident she really wasn't that confident. When she had lived in the other world, with Esmie, the elder was always able to pick up on when she was nervous and she always used to place her hands on her shoulders and say gently:

"Ethie calm down, panicking so much will make it worse" Esmerelda would say to her sister.

Ethel would then proceed to panic even more and Esmerelda would give her some advice.

"Breathe, nothing is as nerve-racking as it seems, just take deep breathes and try to forget anyone else, look for me if you panic to much" Esmerelda would tell the girl.

The thing was Esmerelda as the eldest, was almost always there when Ethel needed her if she was doing something that terrified her but of course Esmerelda did not exist in that moment. Ethel was alone and she could not look at her sister and feel better when she smiled at her, encouraging her to go on, but she could take some of her advice.

Ethel took a deep breathe to steady her nerves and tried to block everyone out, focusing solely on her speech and she started again trying to keep calm.

"Today I am going to be talking to you about the importance of school uniforms" Ethel said as this after all was a meeting about how many witches schools wanted to drop the uniforms and have pupils wear whatever they wanted but Ethel was sticking up for the uniforms.

"Uniforms have for many people being seen as a bad thing because they make everyone appear the same when everyone is a individual and should be able to express that" Ethel said smiling to herself as her speech came back to her in full flow.

"But not having uniforms will lead to a lot of problems, some pupils might not be able to dress in the same clothes as another because of their parents money situation, that is not telling everyone this person is a individual who deserves to be treated as one, that is telling people instantly their families situation is not the same as others and they can't afford as nice clothes. Also what about the idea of leaving teen girls to dress how they want in front of their peers? Students are going to get bullied because they don't dress in a certain way or they dress 'strangely'" Ethel carried on risking a glance at the audience and feeling her worries melt away. She wasn't nervous now.

"Uniforms are also something that allows students to feel proud of their school as they wear their uniforms with pride, not to mention it is not going to be frustrating for a pupil to decide on their outfit for the day because they have no choice in what they wear" Ethel carried on nearly finished with her speech now and proud of herself.

"There is other ways to promote diversity amongst students which do not include having to get rid of school uniforms, uniforms are there for a reason and I think they should stay as it is for the better good of the students, thank you very much for your time" Ethel said to the crowd as she finished her speech. People applauded and she smiled slightly as she walked of the stage.

* * *

Ethel was proud of herself for getting through her speech but she really did not want to repeat the experience, she had not enjoyed that at all, how was it Esmerelda was so confident when it came to this sort of thing? Ethel wished she knew her secret.

Being the eldest was starting to not become so fun for Ethel anymore, there was so many things she did not like about it and it was as she was stood backstage she realised this whole time she had been in fantasy land, thinking getting everything the eldest inherited and all the attention would make life fun and exciting and refreshing but all Ethel had been experiencing these last few weeks was fear, boredom and pressure...it was so different than she thought it would be.

Ethel also was starting to miss Esmerelda like crazy, yes she could be annoying and yes she could nag her and never knew when to leave her alone but she still missed her very much. She missed her coming in her room, uninvited she may add, just to ask her if she was okay as she had been quiet at dinner and when Ethel would sigh and look back at the book she had been reading, Esmerelda would tell her to ignore mother and father as it was their loss if they chose not to bother with her as her sister knew straight away when she was feeling neglected.

She missed other things about her sister too, she missed her calling her Ethie, Ethel was still not used to her entire family using the name and didn't like it. It sounded wrong. She missed hugging her sister and spending time with her and she missed their silent conversations that said so much without words. No-one else was missing Esmerelda as no-one remembered her and Ethel felt her chest hurting, she had never gone this long without talking to her sister, even when the girl had been at school without her as she was not old enough yet they spoke through mirror call all the time.

* * *

As her parents and Sybil came to congratulate her on her speech and ask if she was ready to go home Ethel nodded slowly feeling her chest hurting more but it was not until she was on her broomstick flying home she came to a huge realisation, Esmerelda did not exist, Ethel had no idea how she even got to this other world and had no idea how to get her sister back, if she could even get her back, and it was that moment that she realised she was never going to see her again.

"Ethie?" "Why are you crying?" her mother asked her. Ethel had not even realised she had tears streaming down her face at that moment.

"Oh...I am just so happy I got through the speech" Ethel told her mother who gave her a stare for a few seconds then turned away clearly done prying.

When they got up Ethel ran up to her room and closed her door this time allowing herself to cry as she realised she had lost her sister permanently and finally starting to grief for her loss.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Series Two Episode One is in one hour! I am so excited! Anyway here is my new chapter, hope you enjoy.

* * *

 **Chapter Seven**

Ethel was really starting to get completely sick and tired of being the eldest. Her parents made her study for competitions every single morning AND every single night, so much so the girl was lacking sleep and had drank more coffee in the last week than she ever had in her lifetime!

Ethel competed in so many competitions, winning started to even feel like nothing, when she won now all she thought was how relieved she was this competition was now over, not that she was so happy she had won the competition.

Ethel really thought nothing could get any worse, until that Friday, after she was completely tired out from four competitions that week and her parents told her that night they would be taking her to a opera house for a show, the way they told her this told Ethel they believed this would be a treat for her, but Ethel could think of nothing worse.

The young girl just wanted to stay home and sleep, so she made the excuse she could not go with them because Sybil needed looking after, however, Mr and Mrs Hallow told Ethel her sister was going to be spending the night at Grandma Josephine's, Ethel and her grandma got on so well, and Ethel would much rather spend the time with her but Mr and Mrs Hallow told her not to be silly...this was her treat for doing so well.

* * *

So that is how Ethel ended up sitting inside a theatre with her parents at seven in the evening, on a Friday during her summer holidays. Her family had of course, gotten the best seats right at the front but Ethel was so tired and fed up she wanted to go home not listen to some boring person singing. It was then things somehow got worse for the young blonde.

Ethel had her hand leaning on her chin when she suddenly heard her mother and father talk happily to someone.

"How are you?" "You never told us you were coming today" Mrs Hallow said to a man and a woman who were sitting next to them with a young boy, who looked about Sybil's age.

"We thought we would surprise you" a woman with dark curly hair said beaming at Mr and Mrs Hallow before she noticed Ethel and gasped.

"So this is your oldest?" the woman asked beaming down at Ethel.

"Yes" Mr Hallow told her proudly "This is our Ethel, Ethel, this is Mr and Mrs Moonlight and their son, Prince, we work together" Mr Hallow said with a smile.

Ethel was only half listening as she looked at the little boy named Prince. He was a dark-haired boy, whose hair was so slicked back it looked painful and he was wearing a full suit which made him look more like he was forty than a child. He had scrawny eyes and his nose in the air, clearly this was one child who thought he was better than everyone else.

"Prince, why don't you take a seat next to Ethel?" Mrs Moonlight said to her son as he did just that. Ethel looked at the boy and smiled slightly as their parents started to talk, from the first word that left his mouth, Ethel knew she was going to have a awful time with her new 'friend'.

"Cackles is not a fee paying school is it?" he asked Ethel clearly aware her and her sisters attended that school.

"Erm...no..." Ethel replied wearing a look of confusion at the question.

"That is why the school has so many poor children, I am starting at Alton Boys School after this summer, it is the most expensive wizard school in existence" the boy said proudly as he stuck his nose out even more.

Ethel was about to rudely tell him how nice that was for him but didn't want her parents to hear so instead she said "My family has always attended Cackles and you know what the witches code is like" Ethel replied as the boy smiled at her.

"I am named after a famous English Prince from the 1800's, my parents tell me the name Prince was perfect for me" Prince replied as he bragged about his family.

Ethel then came to realise how her and her sisters must look to people when they first met them if this is how some rich people acted, Ethel could at times brag about the fact she came from such a rich family but this boy was something else.

"Do you have any siblings...Prince?" Ethel asked through gritted teeth already hating this boy.

"No, my parents wanted one perfect son and that is what I got, I shall tell you now how pleased I am to be a only child as I get everything" Prince told Ethel clearly proud of how spoiled he was.

"Well I have tw...erm...a sister, and I 'shall' tell you how pleased I am not to be a only child" Ethel replied mocking the boy wondering how his parents could of raised such a spoiled brat. If Prince noticed the sarcasm though he didn't show it.

Both children fell quiet than as the show started and Ethel realised how boring this was. Ethel had always being jealous of these secret outings her sister got to go on with her parents, but with how boring the show was and the horrendous, vile., boy sitting by her right, Ethel realised she wished she had never had to come.

* * *

Despite them being in a theatre, Prince seemed to have no manners and kept talking loudly as the show was going on and he also kept complaining about everything and anything.

"With the amount of money we paid you would think our seats would be more comfortable than this, and this food is horrendous, and this bottle of water is not cold enough, I feel like...a poor person" the boy whinged to Ethel who tried to let it go in one ear and out the other.

"I need the lavatory" the boy said to Ethel, telling her like she was supposed to care.

"Go then Prince" Ethel replied through gritted teeth, to tired to be dealing with this child, she was to tired to deal with this.

"You expect me to use a public lavatory? "I would never do that, in our mansion, I have my own private bathroom and I will settle for nothing less" Prince replied as Ethel clutched her fist, struggling to resist punching him in the face.

"MOTHER...MOTHER" Prince shouted right into Ethel's ear as he demanded to be taken home to use the bathroom and his mother quickly called their 'people'. Ethel felt her anger melt away as the boy left but it swiftly returned when he was back within twenty minutes.

"That is much better, MOTHER I AM HUNGRY" The boy shouted not caring someone was singing on the stage.

* * *

On and on it went for what felt like hours. Prince complained about: his seat some more, the clothes the performers were wearing, the fact his school only had one swimming pool and should have at least two, the fact his new bedroom at school would not fit all his stuff in, and the fact his uniform was not made from the finest material and would end up bringing him out in a rash.

"MOTHER MOTHER" the boy shouted for the fifth time that evening, screaming in Ethel's, and everyone's else ears, around them.

Ethel had had enough, she was tired, she was bored and she could not deal with 'Prince' anymore, she really had tried all evening to contain herself but she just couldn't anymore.

"PRINCE WILL YOU SHUT UP" Ethel yelled at him "All evening you have been doing my head in, what could you possibly want this time because whatever it is I am sure it can wait until you get back to your stupid mansion!" Ethel yelled at him at the end of her rope. Her parents and Princes parents had turned to look at her.

"MOTHER, this girl is being rude to me" Prince replied angrily.

"OH DO YOU NEED YOUR MUMMY FOR EVERYTHING? I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR SCHOOL, OR HOW MUCH YOUR HAIR GEL IS, I DON'T WANT TO BE HERE ANYMORE THAN YOU DO YOU KNOW, NOW WILL YOU SHUT YOUR MOUTH FOR A WHILE, YOU SPOILED BRAT" Ethel yelled at him loudly not caring at the looks on her parents faces, the young blonde picked up her bottle of sprite and poured it over Prince who made such a loud wailing noise, Ethel was surprised the police were not alerted.

* * *

Ethel got home with her parents, who had reminded quiet the whole journey back home, but when they walked through their main hallway Mr Hallow started.

"Never in all my life, have I ever being so embarrassed" Mr Hallow told his daughter, his eyes blazing with anger.

"But..." Ethel tried to speak up to explain herself.

"No buts, you have ruined our reputation, I can't believe you would do that" Mrs Hallow replied.

"Go to your room, I can't bear to look at you, we will discuss your punishment later" Mr Hallow said to his daughter as the blonde happily obliged and walked upstairs, stomping so loudly it could be heard throughout the mansion.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

After what had happened at the opera house, Ethel spend the next few hours in her room and was pacing around furious, she walked to the corner of her room, giving her bin a kick for good measure before sitting down on her bed barely able to keep still.

She hated this. Being the oldest was so bad, she didn't even care anymore that when she is the middle child her parents totally blank her, in a way she is happy they do. Ethel was not sure if her parents purposely wanted to make sure Esmerelda did not have the opportunity to be a normal teenager or not, but if it was an accident they did a very good job of making sure she focused on nothing but studying.

Ethel was seriously considering breaking all the stupid heirlooms by her feet, what was the point in them anyway? They were to 'special' to use so all the did was collect dust. Ethel stood up about to reach forward and grab the Hallow family broomstick when someone knocked.

It was to quiet to be her parents, especially after what she did, so Ethel put her hand back by her side and said 'come in'.

* * *

Sybil bounded through the door, rosy cheeked and beaming, clearly she had had a great time with their grandmother. 'Well at least someone had a good day', Ethel told herself.

"What are you doing here? Are you not meant to be sleeping at Grandma's?" Ethel asked her sister confused as to why she was at home.

"Change of plan, Grandma is not feeling to well" Sybil told her sister sadly and Ethel was instantly worried.

"Is she okay!?" Ethel asked really worried now about her Grandma's health. She wasn't exactly young after all.

Sybil nodded "It is nothing serious, she has the flu" Sybil replied as she bounded into Ethel's room spinning around.

"How was your evening?" Sybil asked her sister with a smile.

"Let me put it this way Sybil, if I had to either repeat tonight or eat Cackles food for the rest of my life, I would pick Cackles food" Ethel replied beyond frustrated.

"Was it really that bad?" Sybil asked her sister with wide eyes.

Ethel nodded and then spend the next half a hour explaining to Sybil everything that had happened, when Ethel got to the part where she poured her drink over Prince's head Sybil giggled.

"He deserved it" Sybil replied giggling more.

"Yes well, mum and dad didn't think so" Ethel replied sighing to herself as she sat next to her sister.

The girls spoke a while longer before they both retired of to bed, both of them tired from being out, Ethel did not sleep well and the next morning was going to prove to be Ethel's breaking point.

* * *

She rose at just gone nine, had a quick shower, dressed into black jeans and a purple top, and then walked down the stairs, the second she entered the kitchen Ethel could sense the tension.

Her parents were both home but neither said anything to her as she sat down, it was in that moment Ethel realised her jealously towards her sister had not being for the right reasons because Ethel had always thought her parents loved everything about Esmie because she was so perfect, and so much prettier, and kinder than her but with the way her parents were acting now Ethel realised something big. Her parents did not love their children for the right reasons.

Ethel has always been jealous of Mildred Hubble for having a mother who loves her unconditionally, but Mr and Mrs Hallow did not love Esmie because she was their daughter, they only loved her because she gave them a good reputation and they could brag about her to their friends whose children were not as 'smart'. Ethel was seeing it now though, because Ethel had embarrassed them they were now showing her their true colours and acting like she did not exist.

Her mother flipped the page of her book so aggressively then Ethel jumped out of her skin as she was brought back to reality, wishing more than anything Esmie was there now to roll her eyes and cause Ethel to laugh, but she wasn't.

Ethel though hated this world now, she hated everything about it and she realised, her being the eldest still did not make her parents love her the way they should, her wish still had not come true. She thought if she was the eldest she would have the unconditionally love she always wanted but Mr and Mrs Hallow treated their children like trophy's to show off.

"Ethel, Mr and Mrs Moonlight are coming over today to try and make things right, I want you to apologise to them" Mr Hallow suddenly told his daughter telling her in a way she had no choice, it was a order not a choice.

Apologise?. It is them who should be apologising for being so bad at raising children. Ethel would not apologise to them, even if it did ruin her family.

* * *

When the couple arrived they were alone, Ethel thought they had probably thought it would be wise to leave their child behind after what she had done to him, her parents spoke with the Moonlights for a while until her mother looked at her with eyes full of anger before she spoke.

"Well go on then, apologise" the woman said to her looking at her in a expecting way. Ethel looked over at Prince's parents and knew they deserved no apology, and to be honest, the girl no longer cared how much trouble she got in.

"I am sorry you ended up with Prince for a son, he is a spoiled brat" Ethel replied apologising to Mr and Mrs Moonlight but not in the way she was supposed to.

"Ethie" Mr Hallow replied through gritted teeth clearly struggling to contain his anger but so too was his daughter and she had had more than enough. Enough of her parents and enough of this stupid other world.

"Don't call me that name!" Ethel shouted angrily. She was fed up of the name being used so casually, it was meant to be special after all. People were meant to instantly know it was Esmie talking when they heard that name.

"Ethel, if you are not able to control yourself go to your room now!" Mrs Hallow yelled at her glaring at her with a look she had seen in the other world time and time again.

"NO!" Ethel shouted as she stepped forward but Mr Hallow grabbed her, a bit harder than he meant to, to stop her pulling her away.

"Ethel, do you want to be in your room until you leave Cackles?" he asked her threatening her with a punishment, but at his words Ethel smiled.

What did she want? Did she want to go to her room? Yes. She wanted to go and wake up to the world where Esmerelda existed, and if everyone wanted to know what she wanted it was time to tell them.

"I will tell you what I want" Ethel said fussing with her father and after a few minutes getting his grip of her, she smiled and started walking toward Mr and Mrs Moonlight as she spoke.

"I want you two to leave and not come back, no one likes you or your stupid son!" Ethel told the couple who stood there opened mouthed and shocked. Her parents stepped forward to speak but Ethel cut them off.

"As for you two, I want you to pretend I don't exist again, I thought I wanted all your attention but you are so boring I think I prefer it when you pretend you only have two daughters" Ethel told them her teeth gritted. Mr and Mrs Hallow looked at each other wearing a look of absolute confusion as after all in this world they really did only have two daugthers.

"And I want Esmie to be the oldest because I miss her so much and I want her to be the one calling me Ethie and not have it used in place of my real name by everyone!" Ethel want on angrily.

"Sybil...I want you to look up to Esmerelda not me, she is a much better role model" Ethel told her sister knowing it was the truth. Sybil would end up like her if she was not careful.

"And I just don't want to enter competitions or listen to you drone on about your work, or go to operas, or have to drink coffee to stay awake" Ethel shouted before turning away and running up the stairs but pausing on them

"I WANT EVERYTHING BACK TO NORMAL!" She shouted before running up the remaining stairs.

She ran to her bedroom and then threw herself onto her bed crying before she started to talk to no-one in particular.

"I am sorry okay...I know I deserve this for being so horrible but please...let me go home...I want Esmie back...I have learned please" Ethel said before lying back down on her bed crying so much she didn't notice the room shake for a second.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

Ethel did not know how long she laid in bed and cried, it could have been hours for all she knew, when she stopped crying she stayed lying on her front and she heard the door open, she sighed knowing her parents were about to yell at her so she didn't move.

"Ethie...are you okay? You missed breakfast, can we just forget about last night, I am sorry for upsetting you" someone said and Ethel lay there in shock.

In the alternate universe everyone called her Ethie, but the person speaking now was not her parents or Sybil, she would know her voice anywhere, she sat up and turned her head daring herself to believe it.

She wasn't dreaming, Esmerelda was stood there looking at the floor sadly, always one to hate being in a fight with Ethel, Ethel pinched her arm and cried out when it hurt her, she was awake this had to be real.

"Ethie...I am sorry for what I said I didn't mean it, you know I love you to death" Esmerelda kept talking taking her sister being unresponsive to tell her she wasn't accepting her apology.

Ethel jumped up then and walked to Esmerelda daring to touch her on the arm, expecting her to disappear, or for her to wake up in the other universe with her parents standing over her after she had dreamt the whole thing, but she could feel her arm which meant she was real and with this Ethel threw herself so aggressively at Esmerelda, the older blonde had to grab Ethel's desk to stop herself falling over.

"Esmie...oh Esmie...I am sorry for being such a brat, I really do love you you know, and I am sorry for always giving you a hard time for being the eldest and being jealous of you and I am sorry.." Ethel went on as she squeezed her sister tightly and then even more tightly as Esmerelda wrapped her arms around her hugging her back and she could feel she was actually real.

"Ethie you are babbling..." Esmerelda told her with a laugh "And what on earth are you talking about?" Esmerelda asked her sister as she stroked her hair.

"I was in a different world Esmie, you didn't exist, and I was the eldest, and I hated it, I have being gone for weeks!" Ethel told Esmerelda in explanation.

"Ethie...we only had our fight last night, only a couple of hours have passed, I think you were having a dream" Esmie told her sister chuckling more.

"But it was real!" Ethel told her sister who just kept looking at her confused as she held her in her arms "Well anyway, we best go down before Sybil ends up in some sort of trouble, mum and dad are working today so I am in charge" Esmie told her sister and Ethel smiled and ran off ahead of her sister and ran straight into her father.

* * *

"Ethel no running!" her father told her off straightening his tie.

He had just called her Ethel and not Ethie! Ethel beamed at this and ran over to her mother who was tying her cloak, getting ready to leave. Ethel ran to her and stopped in front of her.

"Mother...I think I am ill, my stomach hurts" Ethel told her mother wanting to see her reaction, her father went and stood next to Mrs Hallow, both about to leave.

"That is nice Ethel" Mrs Hallow replied blatantly ignoring her daughter, Ethel beamed hugely and threw her arms around her parents.

"You are acting like I don't exist thank you!" Ethel told them as she hugged them. Mr and Mrs Hallow stood there completely stiff and made no attempt to hug back, after a few moments they pulled away and rolled their eyes.

"Right well...we will be back later" Mr Hallow said shaking his head as he transported away along with his wife.

Sybil was looking at Ethel like she had never seen her before, as she was acting like a crazy person.

"Ethie...this dream must have really gone to your head" Esmerelda told her sister worriedly, she touched her forehead checking for a temperature.

"I am not ill, it was real Esmie, you didn't exist, and I was the oldest, and mum and dad made me study really early and go to opera and listen to them talking about work, and give speeches and enter competitions" Ethel told her sister. Esmie looked at Ethel with wide eyes before Sybil replied.

"It was only a dream Ethel" Sybil told her sister with a smile as she was reassured Ethel was not mental, Ethel looked at Esmerelda who was looking at her in disbelief almost as if she believed her sister.

* * *

The sisters spent a good few hours watching films and then Esmerelda went and made dinner, egg and chips, simple but one neither sister would complain about, after they ate they played a few board games together.

"How is that a tortoise?" Esmie asked Ethel looking at her picture in pictionary.

"What do you mean?" Ethel asked her sisters "That is it's head and then that is it's shell and it's legs" Ethel replied not seeing how Esmie could not see it.

"I still only see a cloud with legs" Sybil replied causing Esmie to laugh and Ethel glared at her.

After they had finishing playing games, they decided on one more film and happily watched it together, by the end of the film though Sybil was struggling to stay awake, so Esmie sent her to bed.

"I will be back, let me check she actually is asleep" Esmerelda told Ethel and she left to check on her little sister, she returned a few minutes later with a smile to Ethel.

"She is out like a light" Esmerelda told Ethel as she went and sat on the sofa next to Ethel, sighing with relief as she sat down.

"You know in my dream I discovered how hard it is to babysit all the time, I don't know how you do it" Ethel told her sister as the elder closed her eyes for a second before she opened them again before speaking.

"After what you said earlier I am not sure it was a dream anymore" Esmerelda told Ethel seriously as she looked at the younger blonde.

"Oh" Ethel said shocked as she had not expected her sister to say that. "What made you change your mind?" Ethel asked her sister.

"Well when you said that mum and dad made you study at stupid hours, and took you to the opera and were talking to you about their job I realised that is strange, I mean I don't normally talk to you about what happens with mum and dad, you shouldn't know that much detail" Esmerelda replied

"So it is true? All that torture mum and dad put me through is true?" Ethel asked her sister amazed.

"Unfortunately yes, they bore me to death, being the eldest is not all fun you know, they never leave me in peace" Esmerelda admitted to her sister and Ethel nodded understanding now.

"Yes I have learned, I hated being the eldest, that Prince boy was the finally straw though" Ethel admitted to Esmie.

"You have met Prince?" Esmerelda asked her sister in amazement.

"Prince is actually real!?" Ethel asked her sister shocked he existed in this world.

"Sadly yes, he is the only person who has ever made me dream of punching someone in the face" Esmerelda admitted, the boy clearly annoyed her as much as he did Ethel.

"In the other world I poured my bottle off sprite over him" Ethel told Esmie who started to laugh a lot at the thought.

"Oh trust me I have thought of ways to hurt that boy" Esmerelda admitted to Ethel with a smirk.

Ethel laughed a bit more before her face fell and she spoke again looking at her sister as she did so.

"I really am sorry you know, I never realised you have a hard time, I am going to try be nicer to you for now on I promise" Ethel told her sister with a small smile.

Esmerelda hugged her sister with a smile "I like being the eldest because I like looking after you and Sybil" Esmerelda told Ethel smiling back at her.

"Even so, I am going to be nicer to you for now on and tell you lots of good things you can do to Prince" Ethel told her sister who laughed and nodded.

As Ethel sat there hugging her sister, she could not help but smile, so happy and relieved she was back at home, because if there was one thing she had learned on her journey, it was that she loved Esmie more than being the eldest and for now on she would try not to think to much into it anymore as it finally hit her...being the eldest was not everything, and she would make sure to remember that.


End file.
